The news that Michele Bachmann is throwing in the towel, not seeking reelection in 2014, is a triumph for LGBT activists and all progressives. And it's a stunning blow to the tea party and the evangelical right.

And they voted against excluding us in the state constitution. My countdown is over, and so is the fear of needing to gear up in the armor that discrimination requires. Life is good. I can't stop smiling.

It was a truly historic night -- and morning -- in Minnesota. We become the first state in the nation to beat back a freedom-limiting amendment like the one we faced. I am proud to be from the state that is the first in the nation to have faced this question and said "no."

The gains made for equality are fragile, and we've seen what can happen when we allow those who stand against us to frame the message. The stakes for those of you with marriage equality on the ballot are high, and the implications for the rest of the country are huge.

I will confess that I dread going to the poll today. I am afraid that I might cry as I fill in that little circle, feeling the pain that my family's worth should be voted on by a whole state. But I will not armor myself from the pain; I will allow it to point me to more love.

Today we will focus heavily on door-to-door canvassing. This is our last shot at getting hundreds of people out to have thousands of conversations that inspire the uncommitted to take the time to vote "no" on the constitutional amendment that would limit the ability to marry.

Volunteers are on the phone, on computers, writing on paper, talking to one another, training and being trained, talking to voters about where to vote, talking to undecided voters one more time. To me, whatever the outcome of the election, this feels like freedom.

Many Catholics are angry at being told how to vote and at being told to keep quiet if they disagree with the hierarchy. They say it is un-American. Some are quitting churches in disgust. There are yard signs all over that say "Another Catholic Voting No."

Dear Catholics: If marriage is on the ballot in your state, chances are you've received a "personal appeal" from your bishop. Marriage equality, the letter says, doesn't reflect the church's concept of family. My letter to you makes a different personal appeal.

The National Organization for Marriage and its hired gun, Frank Schubert, are doubling down these final two weeks before the election with phony claims that churches and religious-based charities will be sued or punished unless gay couples are blocked from the freedom to marry.

Here in Minnesota, and in most of the country, we hate awkward conversations and shy away from them. There are so many ravines we don't try to cross with each other, and this campaign has reawakened in me the understanding that after awkwardness comes relief.

The love my wife and I share has not been diminished by my gender transition. It's the same love we have always had for one another. Our marriage is no different from any other committed and loving relationship between two married people.

Teen Intern says it's still worth making these calls, because every now and then, maybe every 20th conversation, a "yes" vote turns into a "no" vote. The universe is a mysterious place, and anything might yet happen here in this wonderful state I call home.

While my students are grappling with questions of rights and responsibilities, the state of Minnesota is preparing to vote on an amendment to their state constitution that is a commentary both on human rights and the human need for love

We often think of the effects of these elections in terms of whether or not marriage equality will expand to another state. What we don't consider (but we ought to) is the toll that these referendums can take on LGB people during the election season itself.

Minnesotans United for All Families says we need to have 200,000 conversations in October if we are to win, and that we broke a record by having 10,000 conversations recorded last week. So unless things ramp up amazingly fast, it appears that we are going to lose this thing. That upsets me.

As the rally drew to a close, the sky turned dark, the winds picked up, and an F2 tornado bulldozed a 5-mile-long path through Minneapolis, leading to the destruction of our home. From that point on, our life together as a couple would be challenged in every way imaginable.

While I'm glad that the money is being raised, and while I know that we need those "vote no" ads to duke it out with the "vote yes" ones, I'm much more focused on volunteer involvement. Here's my 2-minute stump speech.

I went back for another round of phone banking last night. Here's what I learned: People are really stressed and really busy. Given the level of stress everyone is walking around with, how do we crank up the urgency for civic involvement on this or any other of the urgent issues facing us?

I finally did phone banking. I'd been avoiding it the whole campaign, telling myself I would hate it. But I noticed in the trainings for talking to people you know that, consistently, the folks who had done phone banking were more skilled at the conversations.

Former governor of Minnesota, actor and pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura has joined the campaign against a proposed constitutional amendment that would defi...